The Ups and Downs of Love
by YanksLuver
Summary: Scene extension from Wednesday's Jan. 31st episode. Noah and Patrick continue their heart to heart, and Noah helps Patrick understand what love is all about.


**Title**: The Ups and Downs of Love  
**Author**: Steph  
**Rating**: PG

**Pairing**: Noah/Patrick, Robin/Patrick  
**Category**: Drama/Romance  
**Disclaimer**: I do this out of a love for this couple. No infringement is intended.  
**Spoilers**: Continuation of Noah/Patrick scenes from Wednesday's (1/31) episode.  
**Summary**: Noah and Patrick continue their heart to heart, and Noah helps Patrick understand what love is all about.

**Note**: So, I really wanted more from the Noah/Patrick scenes on Wednesday. I just love their scenes and I'm always left feeling as if there was so much more that could have been done, so many missed opportunities. This popped into my head after watching their scenes. Just a very short little thing that I would have loved to see and couldn't get out of my head. Anyway, hope you enjoy it and please let me know what you thought. Thanks!

-Steph

**--- The Ups and Downs of Love: Part 1/1 ---**

Patrick let out a sigh and exited the nurses' station. He walked over to the sitting area, as his father followed after him. They both sat down and Patrick ran his hands over his face tiredly. He then turned to look at his father.

"Look, I understand what you and Robin are saying. And I know it's coming from a place of love. But…I just want a little while longer, just a few weeks, before my life potentially changes forever. I just want to enjoy that time before I can't get it back."

Noah shook his head. "It'll be hanging over your head, Patrick. That unknown will hang over your head, just like it has the last six months."

Patrick licked at his lips. "But that's just it, Dad. These last six months should have been the worst of my life. Instead, I was able to see what I had in Robin. I was able to stop denying my feelings for her and admit that I love her. The last six months with her have been the happiest of my life. The moments we've shared I will treasure forever. Can you blame me for wanting a few more of those moments before my life is never the same again?"

"Patrick, being HIV+ doesn't mean your relationship with Robin will change. No matter what happens, your life together is just beginning. You'll be able to share countless happy moments together."

Patrick nodded, "But it will be with the knowledge that, at some point, it could all end." Patrick swallowed hard. "Don't you get it, Dad? It's hard enough knowing that someday I could lose Robin to this disease. But then to know that someday I might have to leave her…that I might put her through the same thing she went through with Stone. It's…it's too much."

Noah let out a breath. "You're getting way ahead of yourself. You need to think positively. And even if you do test positive, your chances of living a long, healthy life are great - if you act responsibly and in a timely manner."

Patrick squeezed his eyes closed and said softly, "I just don't want today to be the day my life changes forever." He opened his eyes and looked at his father. "It's like the day Mom died. That day was like the end of an era and the beginning of a new one. My life became divided into two parts: Life before Mom died and life after. I'm just not sure I'm ready to have my life split in two again: Life before I was HIV+ and life after."

Noah bobbed his head slowly. "I understand that, son. But you need to understand something, too. This isn't just about you. This isn't just about your life. It involves the people who love you, too."

"I know," Patrick whispered.

Noah shook his head sharply. "No, I don't think you do. You say you love Robin. You say you want to live with her. Well, that means sharing your life with her, Patrick. It means the decisions you make will also affect her." Noah felt tears well up in his eyes, but he furiously blinked them back. "Did I ever tell you that your mother waited a month before telling me she had a brain tumor?"

Patrick shook his head, as Noah went on. "She said she was trying to protect me. She wanted to shield me from the pain she knew I would feel for as long as she could. After I found out, there were days that I wished I could go back - back to when I was blissfully ignorant. But then I realized that would mean your mother would have had to go through it all by herself. I imagined how hard that month before I found out must have been for her. How scared and alone she must have felt. And it was then that I truly knew what it means to love someone and share your life with them. It means feeling pain when they feel pain. Feeling joy when they feel joy. Patrick, everything you've gone through up until now and will go through in the future, Robin will feel. It stopped being just about your life the moment you fell in love with her."

Patrick stared at his father for a long moment, then smiled slightly, shaking his head. "When exactly did you become so wise?"

Noah smirked, "Well, you would say when half of your liver ended up in my body."

Patrick chuckled softly, then met his father's eyes. "Thank you."

"I'm glad I could help, son."

Patrick shook his head. "No, I mean for being there for Mom. You may not have been there for me when I needed you the most, but you were by her side the entire time she was sick. I know it would have been easier, less painful, to crawl into a bottle of Scotch. But you didn't. You were there for her every step of the way, no matter how hard or painful it became."

Noah shrugged his shoulders. "That's what love is all about, son. Supporting each other through the ups and downs. Robin's been by your side these last six months and no matter what that test says, she'll be by your side in the future. And I know you'll do the same for her."

Patrick bobbed his head and then whispered, "I'd do anything for her."

Noah smiled and patted his back. "Including taking that test again."

Patrick inhaled and exhaled deeply. He then met his father's eyes and nodded.

**---------------------------------------------- THE END ------------------------------------------------**

**Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed it and please let me know what you thought. -Steph**


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